


Black Dog

by manifestingwings



Category: Supernatural
Genre: AU, Dog - Freeform, Firefighter!Dean, Fluff, M/M, parent!Cas, teacher!Cas
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-29
Updated: 2017-06-29
Packaged: 2018-11-21 04:10:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,828
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11349585
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/manifestingwings/pseuds/manifestingwings
Summary: This is something I whipped up because I love my dog and I'm avoiding working on other things. The dog in this story is actually my dog, you can see pictures of herhere!Enjoy!





	Black Dog

**Author's Note:**

> This is something I whipped up because I love my dog and I'm avoiding working on other things. The dog in this story is actually my dog, you can see pictures of her [here!](http://manifestingwings.tumblr.com/post/162400092057/my-dog-tinkerbell-because-everyone-deserves-this)  
> Enjoy!

Claire gasped, tugging violently on her uncle’s hand. “Cas! Cas, Cas, Cas, Cas, Cas!”

Cas blinked tiredly. He’d taken his niece to the park for a snow cone, and they’d been sitting in peaceful silence for a few minutes now, Claire licking her treat and Castiel reading. The girl was so rarely quiet, and it looked like the spell was broken now. 

“What is it, Claire?” Cas asked, tucking a bookmark between the pages. 

“Cas, I  _ have  _ to pet that dog,” Claire said, pointing. Castiel followed her gaze to a tall man with a black dog on a leash. He couldn’t tell much more about the pair from this distance, but he was inclined to accommodate Claire. She’d been begging him for a dog for months now, the least he could do was see how she actually took to that. 

“You  _ have  _ to? Why is that?” Cas teased anyway. 

Claire huffed. “He’s just so cute!”

“You can’t even see him.”

Claire glared at him with as much indignation as a 5-year-old could muster. “Please?”

Castiel smiled. “Throw away your sno cone, then we can go ask if you can pet him.”

Claire squealed in delight and leaped off the bench, rushing to the trash can. Castiel stood and stretched, book still in hand. Claire waited by the trash can, bouncing in excitement. Castiel shook his head and caught up to her, though she took off running toward the dog and his owner the second he returned to her. Cas remained a few paces behind her, his longer legs making up for her speed easily. 

Claire stopped short a few feet away from the dog, who was already straining towards this strange girl. Castiel could see now that the black dog was a girl, a pitbull mix of some kind. 

“Is she friendly?” Cas asked the man who had her on a leash. He was a couple inches taller than Castiel, with sandy blonde hair and green eyes made absolutely stunning by the sunlight filtering through the trees. 

“Tink? Overly friendly. Do you wanna pet her?” The man asked, squatting down and rubbing his dog’s head. 

“Yes, please!” Claire said, inching closer with her hand out.

“I’ll warn you though, she’s a licker,” Dean laughed as Tink closed the distance between herself and Claire and indeed licked her hand. Claire laughed and sat down, allowing Tink to lick her face as she rubbed her sides. Castiel winced.

The man laughed a bit before looking up at Castiel. “I’m Dean,” he said, extending his free hand. 

Castiel took it and shook it once. “Castiel. I’m sorry to intrude on your walk.”

“Oh, you're not intruding. Tinkerbell loves making new friends,” Dean assured him. 

“Tinkerbell?” Claire asked, now rubbing the dog’s belly. “Like in Peter Pan?”

“Yup,” Dean responded, popping the ‘p.’ “I didn’t name her that, one of my coworkers did. See, I’m a firefighter, and we had to save Tink and her sister from a fire. I decided to take her home,” Dean explained, patting Tink on the flank. She stood excitedly, switching her attention to Dean before Claire stole her back with a scratch behind the ears. 

“What kind of dog is she?” Claire asked. 

“Not really sure. I know she’s half pit bull, but we’re not really sure about the other half.”

“She could be half chocolate Lab,” Cas replied, sitting down to pet the dog as well. Her tongue was rough and slimy when she licked him, but he couldn’t help smiling. “She’s a bit taller than regular pit bulls,” he went on, “and she has a soft mouth.”

Dean nodded. “Yeah, maybe. All I know is that she’s the sweetest dog on the planet.”

Cas nodded. “I am inclined to agree.”

“Hey,” Claire said, looking up at Dean curiously. “She has some white fur on her chest. Is she old?”

Dean chuckled, dropping down from a squat to sit cross-legged in the grass. “Not that old, about 5. She’s always had that star on her chest.” Indeed when Castiel looked closer at the dog’s chest, right between her front legs was a white four-pointed star. 

“Hey! I’m five!” Claire exclaimed excitedly. 

“You're twins!” Dean told her, grinning. Claire giggled. Cas studied the man in front of him. His heart might have been melting, just a bit. Incredibly attractive, good with kids, good with animals, a  _ fireman?  _ There was no way such a man existed. Next thing Castiel knew he’d be talking about his baking endeavors and he’d be ruined for anyone else, ever.

He hadn’t dated since he’d adopted Claire, since his brother’s death, but it had been four years now. He figured now was as good a time as any to take a chance. 

That was, if he could work up the courage. 

“Cas?” Claire said, looking up at her uncle with wide eyes. He knew exactly what was about to come out of her mouth, and the sigh was already building. He saw Dean raise his eyebrows out of the corner of his eyes, but he said nothing, thankfully. “I want a dog.”

“I know you want a dog, Claire.”

“Why can’t I have a dog?” Claire pleaded, jutting her bottom lip out. 

“I’ve never said you couldn’t have a dog. Our landlord did.”

Claire sighed dramatically and flopped over in the grass. “I haaate him,” she managed to get out through Tink’s licks. 

“No you don’t, Claire, don’t say that.”

Claire huffed and sat up. Immediately her eyes brightened with some idea. “Dean? Can I walk Tink? Just once around the playground?”

Dean looked to Cas for permission. When Castiel nodded, he stood, helping Claire with him. “Sure, kiddo. Just keep a tight hold. She doesn’t pull too hard usually, but if she does just let me know, okay?”

“Okay!” Claire said, taking the leash and setting off, Tinkerbell walking just a few paces in front of her. Castiel stood as well. He and Dean observed their walk around the playground silently, Dean with his broad arms crossed over his chest, Castiel with his hands in his pockets, book forgotten on the ground. 

“So, Cas, what do you do for a living?” Dean asked, turning towards him.

Castiel’s heart thudded, his already shoddy people skills made worse by how seemingly perfect Dean was. “I, um, teach. At the school.”

“As opposed to at the junkyard?”

Cas laughed through his blush. “I have definitely never held any lectures there. I’m an English professor.”

Dean nodded. “Yeah, I can see that. Is Claire your daughter?”

Cas sighed. “My niece. Her father was my twin brother, but he died four years ago. Gas explosion,” Castiel explained, tone dead. 

“Man. I’m sorry. Pretty cool of you to step up and raise her, though. On your own?” Dean ventured, biting his lip. Castiel couldn’t help another blush.

“Yes, I’ve been raising her on my own. It’s easier and harder than I expected, somehow.”

Dean laughed then, a rich sound that he threw his whole body into, tipping his head back and uncrossing his arms. Castiel smiled. 

Claire stumbled back over to them, Tinkerbell straining on her leash towards her owner. Dean squatted to intercept her, getting a faceful of dog saliva in the process. He patted her twice on the head and then stood once more, taking the leash back from Claire. 

“Thank you for letting me meet your dog!” Claire chirped happily, skipping back to her uncle, slipping her hand in his. “Cas, don’t forget your book.”

Dean bent down and picked it up for him, their finger brushing as he handed it back to Castiel. “Here.”

“Thank you,” Cas said, face heating once more. He debated whether or not it would be appropriate to ask him out then. Then again, the odds of running into Dean ever again were about zero. He’d just opened his mouth to begin when Dean beat him to it.

“Hey… this is kinda random, but do you wanna maybe get a cup of coffee sometime?” Dean asked, fiddling with Tinkerbell’s leash nervously. 

Castiel clamped his jaw shut into a smile. “I would love that.”

Dean grinned back and fished his phone out of his pocket, handing it to Castiel, who tapped in his number. “I’ll call you,” Dean promised as he slipped it back in his pocket.

“I will look forward to that,” Castiel responded. 

Dean nodded and, if possible, grinned wider. “I’ll see you later, then.”

“Yes,” Cas said. “Later. Bye, Tinkerbell.”

“Bye, Tink!” Claire called as they made their way back to the car. Castiel had to bite his lip to keep from outright grinning.

* * *

 

Dean plopped the last box on his kitchen table, sighing in relief. He hated moving, but this was worth it. More than worth it. 

He slid open the back door, where Claire was trying fruitlessly to get Tinkerbell to play catch. She’d been trying for two years, since Dean and Cas had started dating and the Novaks had begun hanging out here, at Dean’s house. Tinkerbell had no interest in the rubber ball, preferring to lick at Claire’s wrists as usual. She would occasionally go and find the ball, but she would never pick it up and she especially never brought it back.

“Claire! Tink! You guys can come in!”

Claire squealed in excitement and dropped the ball and raced to the house, Tink trotting in behind her. Dean squatted down and let Tinkerbell lick at him, laughing when she laid down to expose her belly. “You excited, girl?”

Tinkerbell stood and licked his face. Dean laughed again and stood as well. Ever since Sam moved to California to be a hotshot lawyer, it’d been just Dean and Tink. Until Cas. Who knew a dog could be such an awesome wingman? Or, wingwoman.

Cas bounded down the stairs from Dean’s bedroom- their bedroom. “Are we all done?”

“Yup. Last box,” Dean said proudly.

Cas grinned and skipped the last two steps, crossing the room to kiss Dean squarely on the mouth.

Claire made a disgusted sound. “Tinkerbell, bite them.”

Dean laughed as he pulled away, tucking his head into the crook of Cas’ shoulder. He made a face at Claire, who made one right back. “Tink’s too nice.”

Claire sighed dramatically and shook her head at the dog as she walked past to lay down on her bed. “Hey! Can we get sno cones?”

Dean and Cas both agreed that sounded like a good idea, so they grabbed Tink’s leash and walked the short distance to the park, where they all enjoyed a sno cone, including Tink. 

Suddenly, Claire gasped. “Cas,” she said, “I have to pet that dog.”

Cas looked at Dean and shook his head. “Well, if you  _ have  _ to… remember to ask first, Claire!” Cas called, as the girl was already gone.

“Not gonna go with her?” Dean asked as Cas leaned his head on his shoulder.

“No,” Cas said, planting a kiss on Dean’s cheek. “I don’t need to.”


End file.
